Fans share their best memories of Denis Law

The Manchester United and Scotland icon sadly passed away in January and was laid to rest earlier this month.

A couple of weeks ago, attendees at our most recent Old Trafford reminiscence session were invited to share their memories of The King of the Stretford End, while they also had the opportunity to pose with memorabilia from his career, including one of his matchworn international jerseys.

Those who can recall Denis at his playing pomp in the 1960s and 1970s were more than eager to relive their hero’s glory days, watching a video of some of his best Reds goals before delving deep into their recollections.

Here are some of the best…

Goals in big games

“There are two games I think of when I think of Denis Law. The 1963 FA Cup final, when he scored the first goal. It was the year we got married and four of us went down to Wembley – me, my wife, my wife’s best friend and her husband. We only had one ticket, so I went in and I left them in the Green Man pub. The other one is the second replay against Sunderland, at Leeds Road. We beat them and he scored a hat-trick. He was brilliant that day.”

Signing autographs after ‘work’

“Denis lived in Chorlton, not too far from us and my sister wasn’t really into football, but she thought she’d collect some autographs. She said: ‘do you think Denis will sign one?’ I said: ‘you know where he lives, go and knock on his door – the worst thing that can happen is he’ll tell you to clear off.’ So she went with her best friend, knocked on the door and Mrs Law answered. ‘Is Denis in, Mrs Law, we want to get his autograph?’ they said. Do you know what she said? ‘No, he’s at work!’

When she came home and told me that, I was nearly crying. Is that what they call it?! He was having some treatment after training, so Mrs Law said if you come back at half past four, he’ll be here then, you’ll see his car – a big Jag. So they did and he came bounding out, took pictures and signed autographs.”

‘Pass it, George!’

“I remember him being interviewed on telly once, after he came, and he was stood with Bobby Charlton. George Best had gone to get his shower or whatever, and the interviewer said: ‘what were you saying to George Best when you looked like you were giving him a rollicking? What actually happened?’ His reply: ‘I said pass, George, pass. George… that’s a great goal, George!’ That was every game with George. If he had the ball and the net was there, Denis had no chance of getting it.”

From foes to friends

“In ’67, him and Arsenal's Ian Ure had the battle of Old Trafford here – just an exchange of views. It basically started at the kick-off. I think it was about 20 past three when he got sent off. Denis went to try and punch Ure – he was a big guy, over six foot. They carried on down the tunnel but the funniest part was that on the Wednesday night – that would have been a Saturday game – Scotland were playing Northern Ireland at Hampden Park. Who was Denis’s room-mate? Ian Ure.”

A gravity-defying header

“I have this memory of a game, I am totally convinced that this is what happened. I’m sure it was at Old Trafford, against Everton. It might have been the best goal he ever scored. It was a header and he was more or less in line with the crossbar when he headed the ball. It was at the Stretford End, I’ve never seen anything like it. As I say, this is the goal line. Your goalkeeper is on the line and the ball… I'm sure he heads the ball into the goal while he was on the line. It just dropped past the post while it was still on the line.”

More to his game than scoring

“When he signed for United, he actually said he preferred to play as what he called the old inside-forward. I remember Tottenham in the Charity Shield in 1967 and he's just outside his own box. He gets it passed to him and he comes in and he went through about three or four didn’t he, in his own half and then passed it to Bobby Charlton to score. There’s not many strikers or what you call traditional centre-forwards who will be picking the ball up just outside his own box, so he always had that. He always had that in him. He was never a traditional centre-forward, he was always an inside-forward.”

The personal touch

“Remember when we played at Barcelona in '94 and you couldn't have so many foreign players? Schmeichel was out, Denis Irwin, Cantona etc. Well, we're just coming up to the ground, on that big dual carriageway outside. I clocked Denis. I said to my mate: ‘I’ve got to get over there’. I’m running through the traffic and Bob Wilson was there with him. I said: ‘can I have a picture?’ He said: ‘no, we’re too busy, we’re late for an interview.’ Denis said ‘hold on a minute’, and asked me where I was from. When I explained I was from Salford, he said: ‘this lad’s come a long way for this, we’ll make time for him.’ And I got a cracking picture with Denis there, you know. I’m really pleased about that, because it shows you the difference between an Arsenal player and one of our own.”

If you are interested in attending one of our sessions, which are held at Old Trafford every month, contact the United Museum on 0161 676 7770 or email museum.enquiries@manutd.co.uk.